It’s far too early to pass any sort of judgment, but we’re intrigued by this first gameplay video of the upcoming football game Backbreaker, which seems to be more focused on putting players into the shoes of the athletes than the godlike skycam view of most football titles. No, it has no license, but it does seem to be a different take on the genre, and really, isn’t that just as important?
The tackles also look fairly realistic and with good reason: The game is powered by the euphoria engine, the same one used in The Force Unleashed and Grand Theft Auto IV. We’re going to hear more about this game (slated for a vague 2008 release) in the coming weeks. As such, we just want to be the first to make this joke: Gridirons of War. … We don’t have a wider context for it, but when you see it start to pop up just remember who dropped that bon mot first.
The interview doesn’t go into many details, but it does mention a “jump rope game” which involves bouncing on the Balance Board with “the Wii Remote in your back pocket.” Developing a joke asking whether that pocket Remote indicates we’re “just happy to see you” is left as an exercise for the reader.
We understand that until the game of football evolves (perhaps with the addition of mutants), it’s going to be hard for EA to find new facets to add in to Madden. So we’re not mad at them for the inclusion of User-Controlled Celebrations to the ‘09 edition of the game. Now, when you want to celebrate reaching the end zone, you need only press a button and the party of one will begin. Also, players who are known for their celebrations will have them modeled in the game.
Though we can’t help but be saddened that the feature comes too late for us to feel the rush of having the Ickey Shuffle at our fingertips, we can’t wait to see how many they cook up for Chad Johnson, who once built a working spacecraft on the field and filled it with nuclear weapons before flying it into and destroying the moon to mark his achievement. The craziest part? He had just gotten a first down.
Alas, 2K was the only developer intelligent enough to cash in on the boxing bigwig — and it looks like they’ve got a game to back up the King’s boasts. Sure, it’s not as pretty as Fight Night Round 3, but with fast-paced brawling and training sequences that hearken back to the beloved Ready 2 Rumble series, we’re filled with anticipationalism to step into the ring come June 10.
Previously revealed as “Super Mario Stadium Baseball” last October, and now apparently dubbed, Mario Super Sluggers, the Wii sequel to Mario Superstar Baseball has been confirmed for US release, likely later this year. Nintendo briefly demonstrated the game today at a media summit in San Francisco, IGN reports. As expected, the majority of gameplay is controlled by flicks and waggles (think: Wii Sports’ baseball with shaky fielding), but some of the demonstrator’s motions were “unrecognized by the game,” IGN observed. “Not a very good sign.”
In addition to the known cast of playable characters, IGN confirms that Sluggers will feature Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Waluigi, Toad, Toadette, and Boo.
If you’ve been looking forward to Blazing Lizard’s upcoming XBLA release Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball, you might want to sit down and re-read our hands-on impressions from last month, as publisher Gamecock just sent word that the game has been pushed back until some unspecified time later this Spring.
In an effort to paint a silver lining on the news, Blazing Lizard studio director Christopher Stockman notes that the extra time will let the devs “go back and add in additional content to the game,” including new rules and modes for the title’s cadre of ninjas, pirates, robots, and zombies.
When asked as to the reason for the delay, a spokesperson told us that it “was the addition of different game modes, specifically the mode that works more like traditional dodgeball.” That’s fine, though we suspect the constant flurry of cutlass swipes and hurled shurikens might have had something to do with it as well.
Did you know that Oblivionand Fallout 3 dev Bethesda had a sibling named Vir2L Studios? Known primarily for releasing games for cellular phones, the ZeniMax-owned outfit has announced plans to bring a pair of titles to the Nintendo DS this summer. However, while this would have been great news had the company decided to bring its ElderScrolls Travels mobile titles to the handheld, life has taught us that life is seldom that generous.
Vir2L will instead release touchable versions of its AMF Bowling and Ducati motorcycle racing series on the DS. Both AMF Bowling Pinbusters! and Ducati Moto promise multiple characters and Wi-Fi connectivity, and will each carry a budget price of $19.99. Still, our hope is that Vir2L is simply testing the waters with these titles, and we may someday be able to save Oblivion’s Tamriel, stylus in hand.
